TattooSnob.com

With every new piece I see from Joshua, the strange desire to venture to Iowa grows a little bit stronger…

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers in Des Moines, IA

According to a recent post on Joshua Bowers’ website, now is an ideal time to be getting tattooed. With the shift in seasons you’re infinitely less likely to be exposing a healing tattoo to direct sunlight–and more importantly, the wait time is less than it would be during the warmer months.

Like any of us really needed another reason to book an appointment, right? If you feel like taking advantage but aren’t in Iowa, Joshua will be at the St. Louis Old School Convention November 12-14th. I suggest you shoot him an email e

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers at Iron Heart Tattoo in Des Moines, IA

I swear every time I log onto Joshua Bowers website, he’s wrapping another fairly large piece. Joshua just announced he’ll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Arts Convention from October 8th to October 10th.

If you’re interested in getting a piece, I’d suggest you contact him sooner than later. With work like this, he’s not going to have trouble finding work.

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers at Iron Heart Tattoo in Des Moines, IA.

I’m not entirely sure why, but Joshua Bowers labels this tattoo ‘coal mining.’ Is this an obscure reference that’s going over my head, or just a snazzy title for a robot?

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers at Iron Heart Tattoo in Des Moines, IA.

I don’t think there can ever be enough dinosaur tattoos posted on TattooSnob, but maybe that’s just me. This one goes above and beyond, though. Who knew the bones of a dead dino would make such good tattoo material?

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers at Iron Heart Tattoo in Des Moines, IA.

The Pint Size Painting canvas was the talk of the tattoo convention in Detroit on Sunday. As the 2″x3″ canvases were being handed out, some artists gazed at the tiny canvas in amazement, as others didn’t hesitate to get their masterpiece started.

The following week I was fortunate enough to see the paintings in person, and I was blown away. Just when I thought I found my favorite one, it was quickly replaced by another moments later. The amount of detail and time put into these paintings was indescribable.

As we sat around talking about the different paintings, I was able to ask Durb and Tony some questions about the project and their future plans. Read below for the exclusive interview.

Tattoo Snob: What exactly is a ‘pint sized painting’?

Pint Sized Paintings: A Pint Size Painting is a unique miniature masterpiece, art done on a very small scale. All the paintings are on a 2”x3” canvas board, and each one has a huge visual impact.

TS: How many of the paintings were handed out?

PSP: So far we have shipped out almost 1000 canvasses, and received more than 400 back.

TS: With that many handed out, I’m sure you won’t be able to recite everyone that participated. Is there an official list online?

PSP: Yes, you can go to our website, PintSizePaintings.com, and see the list of artists who have submitted art work.

TS: Will we be able to see them live in person?

PSP: We will debut the entire Pint Size Collection at the Hell City Tattoo Festival, May 21-23 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Killumbus. Following that, the show will go to Sacred Gallery NYC in July. From there we will display it at Hell City Phoenix at the Biltmore, August 27-29. Then it will travel to Coil Tattoo Gallery in L.A.

TS: All of the paintings are going to be featured in a book, right?

PSP: Not all paintings received are printed in this first book from Pint Size Publishing. The book is a 224-page hardcover collection of these miniature masterpieces, with 208 of the paintings displayed in full color and printed to actual size.

TS: Will the book’s pages be 2″x3″ as well?

PSP: The book is 6”x9” landscape, and there are two paintings per page to give the focus to the amazing artwork. The book is printed in an art gallery format with bright, white pages and a very clean and simple view so as to not take away from the small paintings.

TS: Where can people pick the book up at?

PSP: You can of course pre-order the book from Pint Size Publishing on our website, Hellcity.com, and they will be available with a limited edition ruler/magnifying glass at Hell City Killumbus, available with the first 200 books purchased.

TS: I hear you’re already working on volume two? Is this true?

PSP: It is true, with the amount of Pint Size Packages we have already sent out, each submission received now is for Volume 2. Submissions pour in on a daily basis. There are hundreds of artists who have not yet sent in their Pint Size Paintings, and more want to be involved every day. Numerous artists have heard of this project heard through the grapevine, plus with the excitement for the release of Volume 1, Pint Size Paintings will most likely have quite a number of editions.

TS: If an artist is interested in being a part of volume two, who can they contact?

PSP: They can simply send us their mailing address to info@hellcity.com and let us know they want to be a part of Pint Size Paintings. We will ship them out a Pint Size Package containing two of our boards (required to use) and a release form, along with some promotional material. We encourage artists from all genres to participate, not just tattoo artists. Spread the word!

As most of you probably know, this past weekend was the Detroit Motor City Tattoo Expo. This year marked the 15th anniversary of the show, and despite the bad weather – the turnout was great. The artist turn out was nothing short than stellar, and the floor was packed all weekend.

As always, I brought out my camera and tried to capture some of the quality work that surrounded me. I snapped entirely too many pictures to post on here, so I’m just going to post the cream of the crop. Please remember, my photography skills are amateur at best.

If you’re interested in seeing all of the mediocre pictures I took, become a fan of Tattoo Snob on Facebook. All of the pictures from this past weekend are posted in the albums.

I always enjoy when people have the stages of their tattoo photographed, especially when the picture is framed the same way. I personally don’t have anything photographed exactly the same, but I do have various shots of the progress of my sleeve and front torso.

I got excited when Joshua Bowers sent these pictures of this oriental back piece he recently did. I couldn’t just post one, so obviously I had to post all three. I think it’s worth the extra few seconds of load time. Enjoy!

Tattoo by: Joshua Bowers